


Things Change

by Silver_Shortage_in_Markarth



Series: In But A Moment of Time [3]
Category: Dark Cloud (Video Games), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Death by Steve, Death by shooting, Death by stabbing, Frisk is murderous, Gen, I forgot a lot about Dark Cloud so bear with me, I forgot what Palm Brinks looked like, So Genocide Frisk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-08-27 03:59:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16695019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Shortage_in_Markarth/pseuds/Silver_Shortage_in_Markarth
Summary: All he was trying to do was help a small child. Just being a Good Samaritan.Maybe he should've ignored the child after all...





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> What is this

"I hope Cedric doesn't mind me being late to his workshop sometime later this evening," Max said as he adjusted his hat, on his way to meet his friend Donny. "At least it's not raining like that one night..."

Palm Brinks was back to some form of normalcy, after all that Max and his friend from the future Monica ended up going through. He'd even managed to locate some Zelmite from the mines, as requested by the mayor. He actually felt a little bored to get back to the same old, same old. 

Right as he was about to enter the sewer where Donny was located, Max caught sight of a strange child idling by. He couldn't put his finger on why, but he felt compelled to check on them. Pulling his leg out of the tunnel, he wandered over to the church that they were standing in front of. 

"Hey, little buddy," he said to them when he got close enough. "You lost?" The child didn't turn around to look at him, let alone answer his question. "Um...You move here recently? Where're your parents?" He waited an uncomfortably long time for the little one to do anything at all. 

Finally, they turned around, and tilted their head up to look at him. Or at least Max thought they were looking at him; the child's eyes were shut almost completely. Their outfit certainly didn't look like the typical fashion in Palm Brinks; it looked like a blue and purple striped sweater, nothing he really saw worn in town. 

With little else to do, and no one else willing to help, Max took the child's hand and led them to his initial destination. 

...

"Huh?" Donny tilted his head when Max came down into the sewers. This wasn't an unusual occurrence; what _was_ unusual was the fact that he had an unfamiliar child with him. "Hey Max, who's your new friend?" Max looked down at the kid, who was glancing all about the area like they were searching for something. 

"I don't know," Max replied as he scratched the back of his head. "I was hoping to find their parents, but..." Letting go of the child's hand, he rummaged around for something, eventually pulling out some kind of bulky camera. "You know, maybe if I took a picture of them, I can show them to the townspeople! Maybe I'll get some leads then!" 

He then led the little one over to Donny, and had them stand in front of him. Stepping back, Max now prepared himself to take a picture, and then did so. The end result looked acceptable for its intended use. 

"All right, I'll be back later, Donny," Max said to him as he then turned to leave the sewers. "Keep an eye on them until I get back, okay?" Once he was gone, Donny looked down at the child. For whatever reason, something about them didn't exactly sit right with him.

"So..." He couldn't really think of anything to say that wouldn't make him seem odd to this kid. "Uh...You wanna see some of the stuff I've been working with down here?" He turned to enter the tent he was sleeping in. Waiting a few steps, the child then followed. On the way, they caught sight of what looked to be some kind of pistol. Quietly, carefully, they picked it up. 

Then they continuing following Donny, weapon in hand. 

 


	2. Part 2

**_-some time later, at dusk-_ **

Despite Max's best efforts, he wasn't able to get any leads or info on the child. Everyone he showed the photo hadn't any clue who precisely it was. Some of them even said they'd never seen the little one before until Max showed the picture. 

Feeling very crushed, Max ended up going back to the sewer entrance to see how things were going. As he did, a cold and frightful feeling started to overcome him, like a winter storm about to hit.

"Hey Donny," he called out down the ladder that reached Donny's place, "I'm back!" Receiving no answer, Max called out for him again. When that went without any kind of an answer, now he was getting worried. Carefully, he went down the ladder back into the sewers.

"Donny! Hey, are you and that kid okay? Nothing happened to the both of you, right?" When he _still_ didn't get an answer, he assumed the worst. Upon reaching the tent, the worst was confirmed: On the ground inside his tent, Donny lay motionless. He looked to have been shot in the back of the head, point blank. 

Max was now utterly horrified at the sight, so much so, that he ended up vomiting right there in the tent. When he was done, he realized just then that the child was nowhere to be found. His initial thought was that hopefully they fled before the perpetrator did this. 

Then his mind shifted to a more plausible, but no less disturbing theory: the child themself was the perpetrator. With this horrifying thought, Max ran back out and left the sewers again. This time, his search for the child was more frantic and urgent. 

His next stop was to Cedric's workshop, as he'd planned to do that day, anyway. If Cedric scolded him for being late again, that'd be the least painful thing for today. 

"Cedric!" Max cried out when he threw the door to the workshop wide open. "Cedric, something bad's happened! And this time it's not because of that clown Flotsam!" Like with Donny before, however, Cedric didn't answer him. The eerie silence that hung in the air made his stomach turn in absolute fear. Max tried to ignore it when he made his way further into the workshop. 

"Cedric! Hey Cedric, are you okay-" He cut himself short when he realized all the machinery was scattered about, if not completely bashed to pieces. 

In the center of it all was Steve, Cedric's robot, and his pride and joy. It lay on the ground in a massive scrappy heap, some of its parts stolen. And underneath Steve was Cedric himself. His feet stuck out in two extreme angles. 

This death was even more of a shock to him. So much so, that he couldn't bring himself to puke in horror this time. 

"Just how far did this kid end up?" He asked himself when he left the workshop. Despite his legs and feet aching in protest to the constant movement, Max ended up back at his house. He did stop to catch his breath once he reached the entrance. 

"Dad! Dad, are you-" Max had to cough a few times here. "Dad! Some little kid's out on the loose! I think they're murdering people!" 

Of course, it was silent. No one answered Max; not his father, not the cook, not the maid, _no one_. 

Max did hear what sounded like extremely bloody meat getting horribly butchered upstairs. Bracing himself, he went up to his father's room. The trail of death was evident before he reached the door; alongside the smeared blood were a set of footprints. Even so, Max opened the door. Immediately, he wished he hadn't done so. 


	3. Part 3

Standing on a pile of what used to be the servants of the mansion. wielding a butcher's knife, the child was stabbing the lifeless body of Max's father. Their back was turned, so they didn't see him come in. Max could only stand there, making no other sign he had entered. 

"Father...You...!" He managed to choke out after what felt like an eternity standing there. "Why...?"

Now, the child turned to look down at him from the corpse pile. The entire front of them was splattered in blood. Seeing the little one in this state (with their eyes  _still_ closed) caused Max to wish that Monica was still here; she'd know precisely what to do in this situation, hopefully. 

Still quiet as ever, the child hopped down from the pile and stood directly in front of him now. Without a moment's hesitation, they raised their knife and slowly walked towards them. In turn, Max just backed away and out the door. 

He didn't get far; Max was backed up into a wall. When he flattened himself up in front of it, he gulped and shut his eyes. It was the end for him.

...

Once the boy wearing the hat had been dealt with, Frisk left the mansion in search of other potential victims (and took the boy's hat for themself. They looked about as they walked, terrifying the townsfolk. Everybody was running and seeking places to hide; many of them were even screaming at the top of their lungs.

And still, Frisk didn't slow down; with a menacing gait, they gradually sought out everyone in town, and hacked them to pieces. Many of their victims continued screaming as limbs were messily detached, and blood flowed. By the time Frisk had finished their work, not a single other person in Palm Brinks was still alive. 

Everywhere, their footprints could be seen after stepping in so much blood. The blood was slow to come off, as Frisk threw the butcher's knife off to the side, and took a seat in front of a church, on marble steps. They weren't there for too long, though; a little while later, they heard another voice. 

...

"Frisk! Oh my child, are you all right?" 

Toriel had been frantic in her search to find Frisk, after the latter had wandered off somewhere. Now that she had actually found them, she nearly collapsed from exhaustion and relief. 

"Thank goodness you are unharmed! I heard screams coming from this place, and I feared the worst!" She took their hand and tried to wipe the dried blood off their face. "But oh! How filthy you are! We are going home right this instant and then I am drawing you a nice bath!" 

Once she cleaned off Frisk's face as best she could, Toriel now led them by the hand to leave Palm Brinks. Whether or not she was aware that Frisk was the perpetrator of all the deaths, it was uncertain. All she cared about right now was getting her little one home away from any perceived danger. If only she knew the truth. 

At least Frisk loved their adoptive mother enough to never intentionally harm her. She was safe, unlike the people of Palm Brinks. 

...

A century in the future, Monica was fulfilling her new duties as best she could; after her father was slain, this left her as the last of the Raybrandt line. With help, though, she hoped to be a good ruler. She was also hoping to convince Crest to give her another Starglass to go visit him.

Or at least that was the plan. 

As she was sleeping one night, Monica jolted awake in a cold sweat. When she sat up and looked about her room, she realized it was still dark. Whatever it was that awakened her, it most certainly was not anything natural. It couldn't have been. 

Walking out to the nearest balcony, Monica could only watch in horror as the land sprawled out before her changed: it went from a beautiful landscape, to a barren wasteland. Seeing all this was enough to nearly make her faint. Keeping herself standing, however, by grabbing the rail, she instead managed to put two and two together. If something in this time was altered, then something had to have happened in Max's time, as well. 

"No...Max...?" 

Now she wasn't sure if going back was going to be a good idea after all, if it were even possible anymore.

* * *

_There has been a change in the future..._


End file.
